Sunday, 10 January 2016

On the 10th January 2016, the Saudi led coalition airstrike struck an MSF supported hospital in Razeh in Saada province, in the North of Yemen, near the border with Saudi Arabia. 6 people were killed and 7 were injured. This followed two other airstrikes against MSF health facilities in Yemen: one in Haydan, Saada province on 26 October 2015, and another on an MSF tented clinic in Houban, Taiz governorate,
on 2 December 2015.

MSF Report:UPDATE - As of 17 January, the death toll has risen to six after a critically injured patient died on 16 January in the MSF hospital in Saada. The medical team did all they possibly could, but the condition of the patient was extremely critical upon arrival at the hospital six days ago.

The blast at the MSF-supported hospital initially resulted in the death of five people, and eight were injured, two of them critically. While those critically wounded were transferred to the Intensive Care Unit in Saada, the rest were treated at the hospital in Razeh.

"We extend our condolences to the victim's family,
whilst we condemn again the fact that a hospital was targeted in this
conflict that has been ravaging the country for the past 10 months. We
need to repeat over and over that the civilian population, the medical
staff and the medical facilities should be protected during this
conflict. One week after the explosion, patients and health workers are
still scared to go back to the hospital. Attacking hospitals inflicts a
terrible toll on the local population", says Juan Prieto, General
Coordinator of MSF projects in Yemen.

Sana’a – An MSF-supported hospital has been hit by a projectile in northern Yemen
resulting in at least four deaths, 10 injured and the collapse of
several buildings of the medical facility. Three of the injured are MSF
staff, two in critical condition.

According to our staff on the ground, at 09.20am one projectile
impacted the Shiara hospital in Razeh District, where MSF has been
working since November 2015. MSF cannot confirm the origin of the
attack, but planes were seen flying over the facility at the time. At
least one more projectile fell near the hospital. The numbers of
casualties could rise as there could still be people trapped in the
rubble. All staff and patients have evacuated and patients are being
transferred to Al Goumoury hospital in Saada, also supported by MSF.

“All warring parties, including the Saudi-led coalition (SLC), are
regularly informed of the GPS coordinates of the medical sites where MSF
works and we are in constant dialogue with them to ensure that they
understand the severity of the humanitarian consequences of the conflict
and the need to respect the provision of medical services”, says Raquel
Ayora, Director of Operations. “There is no way that anyone with the
capacity to carry out an airstrike or launch a rocket would not have
known that the Shiara hospital was a functioning health facility
providing critical services and supported by MSF”.

“We reiterate to all parties to the conflict that patients and
medical facilities must be respected and that bombing hospitals is a
violation of International Humanitarian Law”, says Ayora.

The conflict is particularly acute in Razeh District. The population
in the area has been severely affected by constant bombings and the
cumulative weight of 10 months of war. Shiara hospital had already been
bombed before MSF started supporting it and services were reduced to
stabilisation, emergency, maternity and life-saving activities.

“We strongly condemn this incident that confirms a worrying
pattern of attacks on essential medical services and we express our
strongest outrage as this will leave a very fragile population without
healthcare for weeks”, says Ayora. “Once more it is civilians that bear
the brunt of this war.”

MSF asks for an immediate end to attacks on medical structures and
requests that all parties unequivocally commit to creating the
conditions for the safe delivery of humanitarian assistance. MSF also
requests that those responsible for this attack investigate the
circumstances of the incident.

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